Daily Archives: June 26, 2017

AMD: Goldman Says 'Epyc' Progress All Priced Into the Stock Barron's Hari doesn't deny the progress represented by the chip, but doubts whether it will add to the stock's upside. Writes Hari, "While the announcement represents a positive step towards re-engaging the server market, an area where AMD has had minimal ... and more »

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AMD: Goldman Says 'Epyc' Progress All Priced Into the Stock - Barron's

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Seattles Minimum Wage Ordinance, passed by the city council in 2014 and designed to phase in a $15-an-hour wage floor, should be viewed as an important long-range experiment. And, as with any meaningful experiment, it requires time for the consequences both intended and unintended to play out.

Because of that, there is little that can be learned from a new report about the wage increase by a team of researchers affiliated with the University of California. Assessing and applying the lessons from Seattles enterprise will require years of empirical evidence that goes beyond the rhetoric that typically surrounds debate over the minimum wage.

That rhetoric can be cacophonous. Critics of the minimum wage insist that increases will lead to fewer jobs if employers are compelled to pay workers beyond the value those workers provide to a business. Supporters insist that placing more money in the pockets of low-wage workers will provide them with more purchasing power and boost the local economy.

The discussion is a worthy one, but last weeks report does little to enhance it. The Berkeley group conducting the study, as reported last year by the Albany (N.Y.) Times Union, has conducted numerous studies, often funded by labor groups, while always concluding that an increase to the minimum wage would provide economic benefits. So it is no surprise that the study of Seattle, commissioned by the office of Mayor Ed Murray, was greeted by headlines such as, Seattle minimum wage hasnt cut jobs and $15 minimum wage in Seattle working fine so far.

The truth is more nuanced, and unearthing it requires the kind of study being conducted by a team at the University of Washington. As part of ongoing research, that group concluded last year that the early stages of Seattles minimum-wage law resulted in the desired pay increases for low-wage workers but a slight decrease in employment levels. The report also said, We do not find compelling evidence that the minimum wage has caused significant increases in business failure rates which is a favorite talking point of those who oppose wage increases.

Most important, the University of Washington study is continuing, eventually covering both boom and bust times. That will be essential to gauging the long-term impact of a debate that typically relies primarily upon economic theory at the expense of evidence. For example, a much-repeated article in 2015 claimed that an inordinate number of Seattle restaurants were closing because of the wage increase, but a follow-up article by The Seattle Times found that to be blatantly misleading. One restaurant owner cited in the original article told the Times that she was closing one restaurant but opening two others: Im totally on board with the $15 min. Its the right thing to do Opening more businesses would not be smart if I felt it was going to hinder my success.

As The Columbian has asserted editorially in the past, the most effective way for an employee to increase their wages is to develop skills that employers find desirable. Through experience or education, a worker can enhance their value to those who do the hiring and determine the wages.

In the meantime, discussion will rage over what is an appropriate minimum wage and the impact such a wage has upon the economy. Washington voters in November approved incremental increases raising the statewide minimum to $13.50 by 2020. It all will add to the petri dish that is Seattles experiment with the minimum wage.

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In Our View: Wage a Work in Progress - The Columbian

A car crash sparked a fire in Santa Clarita that quickly spread to 750 acres Sunday afternoon and triggered mandatory evacuations in some neighborhoods, authorities said.

At 7 p.m. Sunday the fire was 50% contained, said Cpt. Keith Mora, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

The blaze broke out about 1 p.m. near the intersection of the 14 Freeway and Placerita Canyon Road when a motorist drove her car into a tree, according to the county fire department.

The fast-moving fire jumped the freeway, sending up a towering plume of gray smoke that was visible for miles. About 76 homes in the area lost power Sunday afternoon.

The driver of the crashed vehicle was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, said Joey Marrone, a spokesman with the fire department.

A firefighter injured in the blaze was also hospitalized, Marrone said.

At Golden Oak Ranch, an 890-acre filming location constructed by Disney and ABC studios, the fire burned a structure that had been used as a prop house, said L.A. County Sheriff's Department spokesman Christopher Craft.

U.S. Forest Service firefighters stopped the blaze from burning other structures in the faux business district and suburban street used for filming movies and television.

Near another flank of the fire, an NBC Los Angeles news van suddenly caught fire while a photographer was outside the vehicle. The photographer was unharmed, and the news station issued a statement saying the fire in the van was unrelated to the Placerita fire.

The 14 Freeway had been closed on both sides, creating long traffic pileups in both directions. It was reopened by Sunday evening.

Rudy Montanez, 61, said the gridlock was forcing his family to miss a friends 85th birthday party, complete with mariachi band, in Northridge.

He, his wife and three hungry grandchildren were stuck for three hours.

Last year, a brush fire had stranded some family members on a freeway for six hours, Montanez said.

Its not as scary as last time, said his granddaughter, Cherish.

Gamal Habib, 63, was caught in the same jam. He made a U-turn on the 14 Freeway and drove in the opposite direction to escape, he said.

They didnt do a good job of signaling that they had closed an entrance, Habib said.

More than 400 firefighters, four helicopter crews and two air tankers were battling the blaze Sunday.

As the fire spread, The Gentle Barn, an educational nonprofit in Santa Clarita, tweeted a call for neighbors with trucks and trailers to help evacuate horses and other livestock.

In emergency situations, people often stay in their homes because theyre afraid of what might happen to their animals, said Ellie Laks, the organizations founder.

By the time the winds had died down and firefighters were beginning to contain the fire, no one had taken the volunteers offer.

Thats a good fire, Laks said. Hopefully the rest of the fire season will be like that.

By 7:30 pm, Laks had returned to the organizations six-acre property, where horses cantered as if nothing had happened and a peacock stood atop a gazebo, fanning its turquoise feathers.

Santa Clarita on Sunday was experiencing dry conditions and temperatures up to 109 degrees, said Todd Hall, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

Slightly cooler temperatures and wetter conditions are expected on Monday, Hall said.

Another fire broke out Sunday afternoon near the intersection of the 170 Freeway and Victory Boulevard in North Hollywood, said Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Its possible that someone in a nearby homeless encampment in the area could have caused the fire, Humphrey said. No structures or people were harmed, but authorities briefly closed a ramp leading to the 170 Freeway.

This post will be updated with more information as it becomes available.

frank.shyong@latimes.com

joy.resmovits@latimes.com

maya.lau@latimes.com

UPDATES:

8:40 p.m.: This story was updated with details about damage at Golden Oak Ranch, a filming location, and more details from the scene.

6:41 p.m.: This story was updated to reflect new figures about containment and fire acreage.

5:55 p.m.: This story was updated with new information about the size of the fire, information about a burning news van and more details from the scene.

4:45 p.m.: This story was updated with new information about weather conditions.

4:28 p.m.: This story was updated with new information from the scene.

4:00 p.m.: This story was updated new information from fire officials.

8:30 pm.: This story was updated with new information from fire officials and from witnesses.

This article was originally posted at 3:25 p.m.

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Firefighters make progress on fast-moving Santa Clarita blaze; 14 Freeway is reopened - Los Angeles Times

In 1985 my thesis project at Stanford was Out in Suburbia, a video about 10 Peninsula lesbians who were willing to talk openly about their lives. Some of the Stanford faculty were uncomfortable with the subject, and each woman in the film had to agree to come out, a difficult decision in the Bay Area suburbs in 1985. In 1990 when Out in Suburbia was simulcast on KQED and WNET, one of the gay panel members in NYC gave the video a thumbs down because it didnt include lesbians into leather and motorcycles.Aprominent Bay Area lesbian feminist refused to endorse it because it was white washed. On the other hand, when we showed Out in Suburbia at San Jose State, students were shocked to see lesbians who looked so normal. Thirty-two years later we dont have to live or dress or be a certain way. Were everywhere! Celebrate!

Pam Walton Pam Walton Productions/New Day Films Mountain View

If we are adding more tax for upgrade/electrification to Caltrain, why not do it right? Extending electrification of trains down to Los Angeles on the existing Star Light route would be far quicker than building a new high-speed rail, through more densely populated areas and at a tiny fraction of the cost.

John Mitchell San Jose

As a long-time follower of Rep. Ro Khannas progress (Khanna focuses on changing economy, Page 1A, June 25), his plan to spread the Silicon Valleys influence is not new to me. Like him, I believe someday coding will be similar to basic literacy, but that is the problem. If coding is truly so basic, wont those people in Middle America just get out-competed by regions that are more highly skilled, or the average pay is lower?

The solution must be to create jobs in that area that cant be done anywhere else, or at least abruptly outsourced. Sustainable biotechnology is a rising industry, and requires trained workers to operate brand new facilities and manufacturing plants. Creating incubator programs for sustainable innovation and subsidies for implementing manufacturing and training programs in economically distressed regions of America could grow their economies, as well as the U.S. economy as a whole.

Julie Kring Sunnyvale

Article after article in The Mercury News cites how any kind of tax reform (like the Republican bill to overhaul Obamacare) creates big tax breaks for the wealthy. Given our very progressive tax policies, where a small percentage of the population pays the majority of income taxes, of course people who pay the most are going to benefit the most from any rate reductions. Between federal tax rates (42.9 percent) and California tax rates (13.3 percent), top income earners in the state pay well over 50 percent tax on some portion of their income. One would think that would more than meet the definition of their fair share.

Gary Heidenreich San Jose

After attending the last Alum Rock Union School District board meeting, I must concur with your editorialrecommending that ARUSD be fiscally taken over by the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The hostile attitudethat the board majority took with the attendees and later threatening SCCOE Superintendent Jon Gundry, the arrogance, and the lack of taking any responsibility for the problems led meto conclude that this board is, at best, incompetent and, at worst, in the pocket ofthe Del Terra Group.

Jeffrey Markham San Jose

Our public schools are among the worst in the country; our streets and roads are crumbling; the pension plans are severely under funded; a third of our population is on Medi-Cal; we have raised the sales tax and gasoline tax on those who can least afford to pay; traffic is a nightmare, our income tax is the highest in the nation and college tuition is at an all-time high. Yet the Democrats believe that regardless of all these problems it is more important to enact a meaningless travel ban for political purposes. The affected states are obviously very concerned about losing a few pennies from California, and those that commit crimes here can flee to these states without fear of extradition. Brilliant!

Frank Nicoletti San Jose

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June 27 Letters: Video shows progress of attitude toward lesbians - The Mercury News

Photo Ana Brnabic, a 41-year-old lesbian, has been nominated as prime minister of Serbia. Credit Darko Vojinovic/Associated Press

Serbia hardly has a progressive track record on gay rights. So when President Aleksandar Vucic announced this month that he was nominating Ana Brnabic, a 41-year-old, openly lesbian, woman as prime minister, he stunned Serbians and outside observers alike.

Ms. Brnabic who only entered politics last year when Mr. Vucic named her a minister of public administration and local government would secure a double first for Serbia, which has never been led by a woman or by someone who is openly gay. The nomination also plays to the canny Mr. Vucics political ambitions.

In fact, there is every reason to suspect that the choice of Ms. Brnabic is a decoy move. Mr. Vucic may be trying to calm European concerns as Serbia moves toward membership in the European Union, while he continues to cozy up to Russia and beef up Serbias military.

At the same time, a failure by Serbias Parliament to approve Ms. Brnabics nomination would trigger an early election. It would be Serbias third in five years, and with each election, Mr. Vucic has increased his power. When he resigned in March as prime minister to run for the largely ceremonial office of president, there were deep suspicions that he intended to shift the center of power to the presidency and install a puppet as prime minister. His victory on April 2 led to huge street protests in Serbias capital, Belgrade.

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Progress on Gay Rights in Serbia, With a Catch - New York Times

As Republicans struggle to agree on pivotal parts of President Donald Trumps agenda, including tax reform and health care, some frustrated GOP donors are closing their wallets until lawmakers get their act together.

At least one influential donor, Doug Deason, has told congressional Republicans that he is withholding funds until he sees major action on health care and taxes. The Texas-based donor has already refused to host a fundraiser for two members of Congress and informed House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., his checkbook is closed as well.

"Get Obamacare repealed and replaced, get tax reform passed," Deason said in a pointed message to GOP leaders. "You control the Senate. You control the House. You have the presidency. There's no reason you can't get this done. Get it done and we'll open it back up."

Deason, who is keeping the "Dallas piggy bank" closed for now, said he was recently approached by Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C. and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, about hosting a fundraiser.

"I said, 'No I'm not going to because we're closing the checkbook until you get some things done,'" Deason said, noting he's encouraged nearly two dozen major Texas donors to follow his lead.

There was also a sense of frustration and urgency inside the private receptions and closed-door briefings at the Koch brothers' donor retreat this weekend in Colorado Springs, where the billionaire conservatives and their chief lieutenants warned of a rapidly shrinking window to push their agenda through Congress and get legislation to President Trump to sign into law.

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No agenda items mattered more to the conservative Koch network than the GOP's promise to overhaul the nation's tax code and repeal and replace President Barack Obama's health care law. At the moment, however, both are bogged down by GOP infighting that jeopardizes their fate.

At least one Koch official warned that the Republican Party's House majority could be in jeopardy if the GOP-led Congress doesn't follow through.

"If they don't make good on these promises ... there are going to be consequences, and quite frankly there should be," said Sean Lansing, chief operating officer for the Koch network's political arm, Americans For Prosperity.

Donors arent the only ones frustrated by a lack of progress. President Trump has repeatedly derided the Democrats for their failure to come to the table, labeling them obstructionists on a variety of occasions. On Monday, he mulled the option via Twitter of just letting the ObamaCare death spiral continue.

Even as the Senate seeks to push its own version of a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act through this week, at least five GOP senators have come out in opposition to the legislation. Of the 52 Republican lawmakers in the chamber, the Republican Party can only afford to lose two in order for the bill to pass.

And as President Trump approaches the 6-month mark of his presidency, the timeframe to pass certain items with a definitive Republican majority narrows.

"There is urgency," said AFP president Tim Phillips. "We believe we have a window of about 12 months to get as much of it accomplished as possible before the 2018 elections grind policy to a halt."

In between meetings at the Koch retreat, Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., predicted dire consequences in next year's midterm elections should his party fail to deliver on its repeated promises.

"If we don't get health care, none of us are coming back," he said in a brief interview. "We said for seven years you're gonna repeal Obamacare. It's nowhere near repealed."

It's the same for an overhaul of the tax code, Brat said: "We don't get taxes through, we're all going home. Pack the bags."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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GOP donors close checkbooks, frustrated with lack of progress on taxes, health care - Fox Business